Disclaimer: Lately I don’t get much of a chance to discuss about animation and acting so I figured I might discuss here on the blog, an “out-loud thinking” if you will. These are merely some of my observations and things that stick to my mind about acting and animation so none of it should be taken as if “set on stone”.

Alrighty, here’s something else that caught my eye and I realized it’s very powerful. Most of the character driven examples of visual story-telling, whether it be in movies or tv, seem to let the audience in by slowly introducing the character. We usually see certain shots of them either interacting or reacting to situations/other characters and we slowly get to build an idea of that specific character in our heads. The process of “getting to know the character” and how much we relate to him/her is built through out the movie.
At least this is somewhat the case.

While watching “Devil Wears Prada”; really fun movie btw, some great acting in there; I realized that even before we get to meet the character Miranda (Meryl Streep), let alone see her, we form a strong idea about her character. And this is all done using external factors, other characters and how they react to her.

There’s a 2 minute scene, which is below, where they get the news that she’s arriving at the office and all hell breaks loose trying to ready everything for her with no mistakes. I think this is a great way to introduce a character without actually introducing them and try and build a first impression for the audience. Watching that scene, you’re already familiar with her and her character which leads to higher expectations. Higher expectations in the sense that, you already have an idea of what she might be like, given to you using the external factors and you expect her character to be that way. And in this example, it’s a perfect match because the performance is delivered brilliantly.

Thought it was an interesting point.
Over and out.